Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three whole months before she returned home. During that time, they marveled at what God was doing in their lives. They celebrated their pregnancies. They compared baby bumps. They documented their miracles with a joint maternity photo shoot.

Okay, maybe not.

But after their visit was over, Mary returned home and they both went their separate ways. Elizabeth gave birth to John. Mary gave birth to Jesus. And the Bible doesn’t mention any further encounters between the two women.

It’s not until their sons are grown that we see the long-term effects of Elizabeth’s thunder-sharing spirit thirty years before.

So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” (John 3:26 NLT)

Translation: “John! Jesus is stealing your thunder!”

Can you see how history repeats itself? The comparison, the anger and the jealousy that could have easily surfaced between Elizabeth and Mary decades earlier again had the potential to surface between their sons.

John could have taken the bait. He could have responded with, “Really? Well, how many people has He baptized? More than me? Less? How many disciples does He have? How often does He perform miracles? What is His official stance on locusts and honey?”

But he didn’t. Instead, he simply said:

“No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (John 3:27-30 NLT)

I love that translation! “I am filled with joy at his success.”

When was the last time you were filled with joy at the success of someone else? (And don’t say anything about your grandkid. That doesn’t count.) It’s kind of hard when we prefer not to share our thunder.

But John knew what his mother, Elizabeth, also knew.

It’s not really our thunder.

The blessings. The miracles. The excitement. It all comes from God, and the glory is all His. “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding” (Job 37:5 NIV84).

Mary couldn’t steal Elizabeth’s thunder, because it wasn’t hers to begin with.

Jesus couldn’t steal John’s thunder, because it wasn’t his to begin with.

And no one can steal your thunder either, because the thunder is not yours. The glory. The spotlight. The attention. The ticker-tape parade. The thunder.

All God’s.

Q: How are you making sure God gets the glory and the attention this Christmas?